At 23.75m, it will be the widest tunnel in Asia, according to the corporation. The “missing link” project on the Mumbai-Pune expressway has attained 60 per cent progress, according to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.
The missing link project, which includes a viaduct and a cable-stayed bridge, will also have a 10.55-km-long tunnel. At 23.75m, it will be the widest tunnel in Asia, according to the corporation. The tunnel, a part of which is being constructed more than 100m below the Lonavala lake, uses the controlled-blasting method.
Mumbai-Pune expressway ‘missing link’ project 60% over, to have Asia’s widest tunnelhttps://t.co/WFGAmW2Vbj pic.twitter.com/zr6qhAOtoE
The project is targeted to be ready by December 2023. Once open to traffic, the missing link will prevent bottlenecks at Khandala, providing for a seamless travelling experience. The project is proposed to make the expressway a “zero-fatality corridor”.
The tunnelling work is undertaken by Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd, while Afcons Infrastructure Pvt Ltd takes care of the viaduct construction.
Alignment: Expressway from Khalapur to Sinhagad Institute (19km)
Length of the missing link project: 13.3km
Distance saved: 5.7km
Time saved: 20-25min
Tunnel length: 10.55km
The 2.5km of the tunnel passes below the Lonavala lake at a depth varying from 114m to 175m from the bottom.
Viaduct length:0.900km
Cable-stayed bridge: 0.650km long and 82m high
Eight-lane part of the expressway: 5.86km
Tunnel width: 23.75m, highest in Asia
Progress till November 10,2022: 60.02%
Proposed completion date: December-2023